Friday, June 10, 2011

Saint Leibowitz miniature




1979 was a year of major turmoil for me. I converted to Roman Catholicism after many years of struggle. I finally felt, that year, that God was really calling me to join this church. I still am a Catholic after all these years, though I don't go to church right now.

My guides and friends as I made the journey to the Catholic Church were a group of Jesuits in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I attended their church, which was borrowed from the Episcopals at the Episcopal Divinity School. I made friends with a number of them and attempted to learn the ways of Ignatian spirituality. Saint Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit Order, has always been an inspiration to me.

Michael was one of my Jesuit friends, and I later designated him as my Godfather - not a Mafia don, but a spiritual mentor. He loved reading science fiction, and when I was doing nametag badges for all of my friends, he got one too. He asked for a character portrait from the famous post-apocalyptic tale "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller. This character appears to a monk spending time in the desert; he is a mysterious prophetic wanderer who may be Saint Leibowitz himself. The Hebrew letters on the Wanderer's hat are L and TZ: the first and last letters of "Leibowitz."

"Saint Leibowitz" is ink and watercolor on Fabriano paper, 2 1/4" x 3 1/2", February 1979.

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